DraftKings Sportsbook<\/a>, Charlotte is favored by 1.5 points, and this game carries a total of O\/U 214.5 points.<\/p>\nLet\u2019s dive into my preview and pick for this matchup. <\/p>\n
Boston Celtics vs. Charlotte Hornets preview<\/p>\n
The Celtics and Hornets met for the first time this season on March 4th in Boston, and Charlotte handed the Celtics their worst loss of the season, defeating Boston 118-89. The Hornets were at full strength that night, but the Celtics were without Jayson Tatum, as he made his season debut in Boston\u2019s next game after tearing his Achilles tendon last May.<\/p>\n
Tatum will be active tonight, but Jaylen Brown will miss his second straight game with left Achilles tendinitis, and Derrick White is questionable with a knee contusion. Brown was called day-to-day by Joe Mazzulla on Friday, but Brown, all of a sudden, dealing with an Achilles injury is obviously alarming for Celtics fans after Tatum just missed about 10 months with an Achilles tear.<\/p>\n
Brown is having a career season, averaging 28.6 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game, but the Celtics are 7-1 with him inactive, and the team\u2019s net rating is actually 5.7 points per 100 possessions better with Brown off the floor. Tatum has only been active for one game without Brown this season, which came this past Friday night vs. the Hawks, when Boston prevailed 109-102. This was an impressive win, as Atlanta had only lost once in its previous 15 before this, and the club ranks third in net rating since the All-Star break.<\/p>\n
With Brown out, Tatum finished with a season-high 26 points, to go along with 12 rebounds and five assists, and Payton Pritchard went off for 36 points, seven rebounds and four assists off the bench. Pritchard led the team with a 39% usage rate, and Tatum was right behind him at 37%, and both should see big usage rates again tonight. White, meanwhile, only scored 10 points. The guard hasn\u2019t scored more than 15 points in five consecutive games, so maybe the knee injury is affecting his play right now, and sitting White tonight might be a smart move for the Celtics. This would be a big loss for the Celtics on the defensive end, but Baylor Scheierman, Jordan Walsh, and Hugo Gonzalez are all strong defenders who would step up in White\u2019s absence if he were inactive.<\/p>\n
All in all, the Celtics are 14-5 and rank fifth in net rating since the All-Star break. They are 8-2 since Tatum made his season debut and Boston is the No.2 seed in the Eastern Conference. Sitting 4.5 games back of the top-seeded Pistons, the Celtics\u2019 stealing the No.1 seed is unlikely, but the team is only 1.5 games ahead of the Knicks for the No.2 seed, so every game is important right now for Boston.<\/p>\n
Tonight is also a crucial tilt for the No. 10-seeded Hornets. Charlotte is locked in for a spot in the Play-In Tournament, sitting 9.5 games ahead of the Bucks for the No.10 seed, but the Hornets easily could improve their seed for the Play-In Tournament, as the standings are tight and Charlotte is only two games back of the No. 7-seeded 76ers.<\/p>\n
Speaking of Philadelphia, the club went into Charlotte last night and defeated the red-hot Hornets 118-114. Charlotte had won five in a row before this, and since the All-Star break, the Hornets are 13-6 and rank second in net rating. Led by LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller and Kon Knuppel, Charlotte has been great on both sides of the ball, and the club has been rebounding very well, but the Hornets\u2019 main weakness is that they can struggle in close games, which was on display in last night\u2019s loss vs. the 76ers.<\/p>\n
Despite ranking second in net rating since the All-Star break, Charlotte ranks dead last in clutch net rating, which is when, at any time in the final five minutes of a game, the score is separated by five points or less. The Hornets have found themselves in five clutch games since the All-Star break, and they are just 1-4 in those tilts.<\/p>\n
This is likely due to the Hornets being a young and inexperienced group. There is no denying Charlotte is a compelling, up-and-coming team, but the Hornets not handling close games well doesn\u2019t bode well for their chances in the playoffs, and it also doesn\u2019t bode well for them against the Celtics tonight, as this game could be a nail-biter, with Charlotte only favored by 1.5 points on DraftKings Sportsbook.<\/p>\n
Celtics vs. Hornets pick, best Bet<\/p>\n
White being beat up isn\u2019t ideal for the Celtics, but they have an extra day of rest in their favor, and the Hornets are just 16-18 SU after a loss this season.<\/p>\n
This should be a tight game, and the more experienced Celtics should get revenge with a win after Charlotte blew them out earlier this month. When playing with a rest advantage, the Celtics are 12-3 SU this season.<\/p>\n
Best Bet: Celtics ML (+100)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alex Hunter breaks down his preview, prediction and pick for Sunday\u2019s NBA matchup between the Celtics and Hornets.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":681893,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3766],"tags":[7,45,75,3798,46,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-686654","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boston-celtics","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-boston","10":"tag-boston-celtics","11":"tag-bostonceltics","12":"tag-celtics","13":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=686654"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686654\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/681893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=686654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=686654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=686654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}